Pulls & knobs & handles! Oh my!

Home jewelry dazzles when it comes to cabinets, drawers and even refrigerators. Get in on the fun

By Jeff Schnaufer
CTW Features

Image courtesy iStockphoto

When it comes to jewelry in the home, the most overlooked isn’t hidden in a cookie jar under a row of cabinets, but rather, directly on the cabinet doors.

With a sparkling, gleaming finish, knobs and handles (also known as pulls) are considered decorative home jewelry by many home-décor experts. And the newest trend comes from the oldest traditions.

"Some of the older styles are so timeless and elegant," says Cristi Page, owner of Santa Monica, Calif.-based Top Drawer. "People love to put those on."

Victorian, art deco, Chippendale, mission or arts and crafts style and depression era designs are among the vintage hardware styles in demand to replace missing knobs on vintage cabinets and furniture or to create a new, "vintage chic" style on modern home furnishings and cabinets. For those hoping to replace missing knobs or pulls on vintage furniture or cabinets, searching flea markets and antique stores can be frustrating.

"They can be very hard to find and can be very expensive," Page says. "Some of the glass can be $40 to $100 a pull." That's where companies that offer "genuine historic accuracy in the reproduction of antique hardware pieces,” can save you both time and money. "If you are buying a solid glass reproduction, it could cost only $5 to $10," Page says. Replacing missing vintage knobs can also be environmentally friendly, Page adds, as it keeps some furniture out of landfills.

"We just had a woman in last week who had been looking for a for a 2-1/2 inch small pull for a Chippendale-style desk," Page recalls. "It was a desk she had gotten from her parents. She wasn’t able to find the pull anywhere. She was thinking she would have to junk it or find something that didn't match it. She was able to come in and find something that matched it and is going to be able to keep it."

Combining vintage knobs with modern cabinets and furniture is a new trend that has inspired people to look at their home decor with a creative eye.

"Some of this older-style hardware, it gives a sense of warmth and comfort to the room," says Adrienne Morea, creative director and president of Atlas Homewares, Glendale, Calif. "It also lends to this concept of what we call 'vintage chic.' You take rounded edges and the muted colors of the hardware and mix it with a modern piece, it gives it a very chic look. A person who is choosing old hardware on newer furniture is going for that eclectic mix in the room." For those feeling particularly artistic, Page suggests considering vibrant new colors.

"You can choose from cobalt blue, peacock blue or bright red and put them on a simple white cabinet," Page says. "It adds a lot of personality." And while most of us only think of knobs and handles on our chest of drawers and kitchen and bathroom cabinets, Morea says there's something bigger than a breadbox that just screams out for a designer touch.

"Refrigerators are only offered with modern-style pulls," Morea says. "They're never offered with any kind of designer handle. We have these Old World or Tuscany period style appliance handles that will match their cabinet hardware."

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